Indian benchmark equity indices BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 were higher on Wednesday, as RBI governor Shaktikanta Das announced that the RBI MPC has decided to hold rates at 6.5 per cent.
The central bank governor announced that the RBI MPC has deciced to change the policy stance to neutral from ‘withdrawal of accomodation’ earlier.
At 1 PM, the BSE Sensex was up 347 points, or 0.43 per cent, at 81,981.84, while the Nifty 50 was up 124.40 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 25,137.55.
In the afternoon, seven out of the 30 stocks on the BSE Sensex were trading in the red, with loses capped by Nestle India (down 2.29 per cent), followed by ITC, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever, and Reliance Industries. On the flip side, Tata Motors (up 2.83 per cent), followed by Maruti Suzuki India, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, and Bharti Airtel, were among the top gainers.
Among the constituents of the Nifty 50 index, 37 stocks were trading in the green. Gains were led by Tata Motors (up 2.74 per cent), followed by Trent, Cipla, Maruti Suzuki India, and Bharti Airtel, while loses were capped by Nestle India (down 2.17 per cent), followed by Britannia Industries, ITC, ONGC, and Hindustan Unilever.
Meanwhile, across sectors, the Pharma, Health and Realty indices were the top gainers, climbing 2.28 per cent, 2.16 per cent, and 2.17 per cent, respectively.
All other sectors, barring FMCG (down 0.72 per cent), were also trading higher.
Global Cues
Meanwhile, markets in the Asia Pacific region, were down on Wednesday, with mainland China leading the loses.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dragged 0.29 per cent after plummeting 9.41 per cent to close at 20,926.79 on the previous day.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 index was down 4.33 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite was down 3.68 per cent.
That apart, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.8 per cent, and the broader Topix was ahead by 0.31 per cent.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.15 per cent, while South Korea’s markets remained closed for a public holiday.
On the previous day, a gauge of global stocks advanced after a rally on Wall Street overshadowed disappointment over the lack of details in China’s stimulus, as investor focus shifts to upcoming US inflation data and corporate earnings.
On Wall Street, US stocks closed sharply higher as the benchmark S&P 500 bounced back from a drop of nearly 1 per cent a day earlier, with a jump of more than 2 per cent in technology stocks providing key support.
